Miner 2049er
Description official descriptions
You play the part of Bounty Bob, and it is your mission to explore every inch of an abandoned mine. As you walk over floor sections in the mine, the floor will change color. When all of the floor sections have been changed in color, you can move on to the next, more challenging level. To reach all of the floor sections, you will need to figure out how to get there.
You can jump (be careful not to fall too far though, or you will be squished), climb up and down ladders, and use different transportation devices that can be found on the levels (such as an elevator, slides, a springboard, or a cannon). Wandering around the mine are numerous radioactive creatures which get in Bounty Bob's way. Also scattered throughout the mines are various artifacts left behind; if Bounty Bob collects one of these, the creatures will temporarily become vulnerable. If Bounty Bob runs into one of the creatures in this state the creature will be destroyed, but if he runs into a creature while it is glowing Bounty Bob will be destroyed.
There is a total of ten different levels, and to complete them all you will need quick reflexes as well as to figure out a unique strategy for each level.
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Credits (Apple II version)
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Reviews
Critics
Average score: 75% (based on 9 ratings)
Players
Average score: 3.8 out of 5 (based on 65 ratings with 1 reviews)
The Good
Arcade games from that era were mostly one level and infinite waves in that level, where every following wave was harder than previous one (Space Invaders, Pac-Man, Galaxian, etc..). Exceptions were titles like Donkey Kong (4 levels but again, repeating them with increasing difficulty) or Lode Runner.
Miner 2049er brought something fresh into arcading. There are 10 unique levels, but every level is "well thought". You have to figure out how to beat the level as starting from level 2 it's really not obvious. Easy you can say, but hey, it's 1983, no saving, there's time running out, so nope. When you reach level N, it will take many attempts to figure out how to beat it and reach level N+1. So I would define the game as puzzle/arcade. Every level is really quite unique as there's some new mechanics not seen in previous levels (slides, elevators, etc..). Graphics is ok, gameplay is very good and game design is standing out compared to other titles from that year. In my personal opinion it's much better than more famous Donkey Kong.
The Bad
Nothing. Probably a bit difficult for today's standards, but if you're interested in old DOS games, then probably it's no problem for you anyway.
The Bottom Line
In my opinion, it's the best 1983 PC game (at least when taking into account arcade titles).
PC Booter · by Vladimir Dienes · 2023
Trivia
1001 Video Games
Miner 2049er appears in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die by General Editor Tony Mott.
Canceled NES version
According to a gossip column of upcoming games in Nintendo Power, there was a claim of "Mindscape is also doing Miner 2409er, another arcade classic with game play similar to their Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom game." This version of the game seems to have never come to fruition.
Licensing
Miner 2049er was ported to a wide-range of platforms thanks to an early, innovative use of licensing. Big Five produced the original game, and licensed it to other companies to port to other platforms. Prior to this, most games were ported by the same company that developed them.
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Miner 2049er Information Page
Fan page devoted to this classic game.
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Contributors to this Entry
Game added by Servo.
Thomson TO added by Rola. Sharp X1 added by Infernos. BlackBerry added by firefang9212. Thomson MO, Epoch Super Cassette Vision, Windows Mobile, BREW, J2ME added by Kabushi. Atari 8-bit added by ZZip. FM-7 added by Terok Nor. PC-88 added by j.raido 【雷堂嬢太朗】. Commodore 64 added by Belboz. Atari 5200 added by Jeanne. SMC-777 added by Elliot Washington.
Additional contributors: Guy Chapman, Alaka, ZZip, formercontrib, FatherJack.
Game added March 25, 2003. Last modified June 16, 2024.